Jean v



J. V. GIESLER.

COOLING SYSTEM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGtNES.

APPLICATION flLED APR. 9,19l7- Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

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JEAN V. GIESLER, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR TO THE FULTON COMPANY,

OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, .A. CORPORATION OF MAINE.

COOLING SYSTEM FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEAN V. GrEsLER, a citizen of the United States-of America, and a resident of Knoxville, Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cooling Systems for Internal Combustion Engines, which invention is fully set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to cooling systems for internal combustion engines and, while capable of use with a Wide variety of engines of this type, has especial utility when applied to the cooling of automobile engines.

In systems of this type, employing the circulation of a cooling medium through the jacket of the engine, certain advantages arise from the control of such circulation from the temperature of the medium as it leaves the jacket. It is an object of this invention to provide a novel cooling system wherein the circulation of cooling medium is controlled from the temperature of such medium as it leaves the jacket.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide the Water line leading to the jacket with a circulating pump and a valve on the suction side of said pump for regulating the quantity of cooling medium flowing through the system, and to operate said valve thermostatically by temperature-responsive means subjected to the medium flowing from the engine jacket. To provide for a continuous flow of cooling medium through the system even when the valve is closed, and to prevent the suction" of the pump from lifting the valve from its seat, said valve has been provided with one or more apertures therethrough. Devicesof this type have been seriously defective inaction, since, to prevent the suction of the pump from lifting the valve, the apertures therethrough have had to be of such size as to practically .destroythe sensitiveness of control of ,the circulation of the cooling medium. It is an object of this invention to provide a cooling system forinternal combustion engines, comprising a pump and a valve adjacent thereto on the suction side of said pump,

wherein all danger of the valve being lifted from its seat by the suction of the pump is eliminated, without destruction of or interference with the'accuracy of control of the temperature of the cooling medium.

Cooling systems of the type referred to heretofore proposed have also had the seri- S pecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

ous defect that the pressure variations due to the operation of the pump have adversely aflected the operation of the thermostat where such thermostat comprised a pressureresponsive element exposed to the pressure vibrations created by said pump. If such pressure-responsive element be upon the suction side of the pump and the valve be closed while the pump is running, the suction of the pump so reduces the pressure about the pressure-responsive element as to cause a premature expansion of the latter and therefore a premature opening of the valve. If

' such element be upon the delivery side of the pump, the head built up by the pump under such conditions opposes the expansion of such element, with a consequent delayed opening of the valve. It is an object of this invention to provide a system of this character wherein the pressure variations created by the pump do not adversely aflect the operation of the pressure-responsive element of the thermostat.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive device which may be manufactured as an accessory and readily installed in the cooling systems of automobile engines already on the market or in use.

Still other objects relate to the provision of a cooling system for internal combustion engines that is simple in construction, eflicient in operation, inexpensive to manufacture and easy to install.

Stated broadly, the invention comprises,

in a cooling system for internal combustion engines, in combination with the engine jacket or jackets, a pump for circulating the cooling medium through the system, valve means adjacent said pump for regulating the amount of cooling medium flowing through said system and preferably positioned on the suction side of said pump, thermosensitive means for operating said valve means and which may comprise a pressure-responsive element subjected to the pressure Within said system, and means for preventing the pressure variations of said pump from adversely affecting the operation of said pressure-responsive element or said valve; said last-named means being shown as a vent or bleeder tube positioned on the suction side of said pump, adjacent said pressure-responsive element and intermediate said pump and. said. valve means.

designates a cylinder of an internal combustion engine.

While 'but one cylinder has been illustrated, it is to be expressly understood that the invention contemplates the use of an engine of any desired number of cylinders. 2 indicates the outlet manifold for conveying the coolin medium from the usual jacket surrounding the engine cylinder or cylinders, and 3 the inlet manifold for conveying the cooling medium to said cylinder jacket or jackets. 4 designates any suitable radiator and 5 designates any suitable circulating pump for maintaining the circulation from the engine jacket through the outlet manifold 2, radiator 4, and back through the inlet manifold 3 to the jacket.

In the form shown, a section of piping 6 is interposed between the intake 7 of said pump and the outlet 8 of said radiator, the

same being desirably connected to said intake and outlet by sections of piping 9 and 10. Within said section of piping 6 is a valve'means for regulating the amount of cooling medium flowing from. the radiator to the pump. In the form'shown, seating valves 11 and 12 are connected by a stem 13 and cooperate with ports Hand 15 formed in a wall 16 within said section of piping 6. While the illustrated embodiment comprises a pair of seating valves, it is to be expressly understood that any other suitable valve or arrangement of valves may be employed if desired. j

To thermostaticallyoperate said valves 11 and 12, stem 13 is shown as connected to the movable wall 17 of an expansible and contract-ible corrugated resilient vessel 18 mounted within a housing 19 suitably secured, as by bolts 20, to a lateral extension 21 which may be formed integrally with said section of piping 6. In communication with the interior of said vessel 18, through an aperture provided in the stationary end wall 18 of said vessel fixedly secured in any suitable way to said housing 19, is a section of tubing 20, shown as flexible, communicating at its opposite end with a bulb 21 mounted in any suitable way within a housing 22 shown as positioned intermediate the outlet manifold 2 and the radiator 4. In the form shown, said housing is provided with pipe extensions 23 and 24 connected to the manifold 2 and inlet 25 of the radiator by sections of piping 26 and 27 respectively.

Vessel 18 and flexible tubing 20 are filled with a volatile liquid which also partially fills the bulb 21, leaving a space within said bulb above the surface of the liquid which is occupied by the saturated vapor of said liquid. The thermostat may be desirably charged with the volatile liquid at a pressure below that to which the same is ,exteriorly subjected, as fully disclosed in the patent to \Veston M. Fulton, No. 1,220,972, granted March 27, 1917 to which reference is hereby made for further details of construction,

whereby, upon the occurrence of a leak in in the form shown adjacent said vessel 18 and on the suction side of said pump, inter mediate sald pump and said valve means, said vent being shown as a bleeder tube 28 communicating adjacent its lower end with said housing 19 and extending vertically to a height above the water line in said radiator. While said bleeder tube has been shown in communication adjacent its lower end with said housing 19, it is to be expressly understood that such tube might be connected with an opening provided in the valve housing constituted by the section of piping 6, or otherwise suitably arranged, so long as by its operation it maintains substantially atmospheric pressure on the cooling medium on the pump side of said valve means and on the cooling medium to which the pressure-responsive element constituted by said expansible and contractible vessel 18 is subjected.

In operation, upon starting the engine the cooling medium in the system is cold, the volatile fluid in the thermostat is condensed, vessel 18 is contracted and valves 11 and 12 are held in engagement with their ports. The cooling medium within the engine jacket quickly rises in temperature and, upon reaching a predetermined degree, the volatilization of liquid within the bulb 21 creates a pressure transmitted to the movable wall of said vessel 18 suflicient to open said valves Hand 12 and admit of a circulation of the cooling medium through the system. Pump 5 now draws said medium from the radiator 4 through the lower water line comprising outlet 8 and pipes 10, 6, 9, and 7,

and delivers the same through the upper waterline comprising inlet manifold 3 to the engine jacket, from which it flows through outlet manifold 2, pipe 26, housing 22, pipe 27 and inlet 25 to said radiator 4.

Bulb 21 is thus subjected to the cooling.

medium as it leaves the engine jacket, and the temperature-pressure changes therein control, through the pressure-responsive element 18, the opening and closing of the valve means to maintain the temperature of the water at it leaves the engine jacket substantially uniform. While valves 11 and 12 are closed and the cooling medium within the engine jacket is heating up, the pump 5 is in operation and, since housings 6 and 19 are normally filled with Cooling medium, the suction created by the pump, were it not for the bleeder tube 28, would'tend to create a vacuum within the housings 6 and 19 which in turn would tend to lift the valve means from its seat and, the pressure upon the outer side of movable wall 17 being reduced to produce a premature expansion of said vessel. By the provision of such vent or bleeder tube, however, substantially atmospheric pressure is maintained within said housings, and the accuracy and sensitiveness of control of said valve means is maintained. As long as the engine is in operation, the valve means is proportionately opened and closed by the thermostat in accordance with the temperature changes of the cooling medium as it leaves the engine jacket to maintain said temperature substantially uniform, and pressure variations accompanying different valve positions do not adversely affect the operation of the thermostat or the valve means.

As a matter of practice it has been found that the cooling medium leaking past the valves 11 and 12 will be sufiicient to maintain a slight circulation through the system at all times, whereby bulb 21 will be affected by the temperature of the cooling medium leaving the engine jacket, even though said valves be closed. If such leakage be insuiiic-ient, however, a small aperture may be provided in the wall 16, which aperture would also serve the additional function of permitting draining of the system when desired.

Vhile the illustrated embodiment has been described with considerable particularity, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not to be restricted to the form shown in the drawing, for it is capable of receiving a variety of mechanical expressions, some of which will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. Also, while the illustrated structure is especially designed for insertion in a cooling system already constructed, it is to be expressly understood that the elements of this invention may be originally built into the cooling system without departing from the spirit thereof. Furthermore, it is to be expressly understood that the definition of the valve or other means as adjacent the pump or its intake is not to be construed with undue strictness, as it contemplates as within the limits of this invention any suitable location of said means in the same water line with said pump. Reference is therefore to be had to the claims hereto appended for a defiengine jacket, conduits for conducting the cooling medium to and from said jacket, a circulating pump in one of said conduits, thermostatically-controlled valve means in said last-named conduit, and a vent opening into said last-named conduit intermediate said pump and said valve means.

3. In a cooling system for internal combustion engines, in combination with the engine jacket, conduits for conducting the cooling medium to and from said jacket, a

circulating pump in one of said conduits, thermostatically-controlled valve means in said last-named conduit on the suction side of said pump, and a bleeder tube communicating with-said last-named conduit intermediate said pump and said valve means.

4. In a cooling system for internal combustion engines, in combination with the engine jacket, conduits for conducting the cooling medium to and from said jacket, a circulating pump in the conduit leading to said jacket, thermostatically-contro1led valve means in said last-named conduit, and a bleeder tube in communication with'said last-named conduit intermediate said pump and said valve means.

5. In a cooling system for internal combustion engines, in combination with the engine jacket, conduits for conducting the cooling medium to and from said jacket, a circulating pump in one of said conduits, valve means in said lastnamed conduit, a bleeder tube in communication with said last-named conduit intermediate said pump and said valve means, and thermosensitive means for operating said valve means conmeans for regulating the flow of cooling medium throughv said system, thermosensitive means connected to said valve means and comprising a pressure-responsive expansible and contractible element subjected to the pressure in said system, and means for preventing pressure variations created by said pump from adversely affecting the operation of said ressure-responsive element.

7 .In a coo ing system for internal combustion engines, a pump for circulating a. cooling medium through said system, valve means for regulating the flow of cooling medium through said system, thermosensitive means connectedvto said valve means and comprising apressure-responsive element subjected to the pressure in said system adjacent the intake of said pump, and vacuumpreventingmeans in said system adjacent said pressure-responsive element.

8. In a cooling system for internal combustion engines, a pump for circulating a cooling medium through said system, valve means for regulating the flow of cooling medium through said system, thermosensitive means connected to said valve means and comprising a pressure-responsive element subjected to the pressure 1n said system and means in said system adjacent said pump for preventing pressure variations created by said pump from adversely afi'ecting the operation of said pressure-responsive element. 9. In a cooling system for internal com bustion engines, in combination with the engine jacket, conduits for conducting the cooling medium to and from said jacket, a circulating pump in one of said conduits, valve means in said last-named conduit, thermosensitive means connected to said valve means and comprising a-pressure-responsive element subjected to the pressure in said conduit, and a vent opening into said conduit adjacent said pressure responsive element. 1

10. In a cooling system for internal combustion engines, in combination with the engine jacket, conduits for conducting the cooling medium to and from said jacket, a

circulating pump in one of said conduits,

valve means in said last-named conduit on the suction side of said pump, thermosensitive means connected to said valve means and comprising a pressure-responsive'element sub ected to the pressure in said conduit, and a bleeder tube communicating with said conduit intermediate said pump and said pressure responsive element.

11. In a cooling system for internal com bustion engines, in combination with the engine jacket, conduits for conducting the cooling medium to and from said jacket, a circulating pump in the conduit leading to said jacket, valve means in said lastnamed conduit, thermosensitive means connected. to said valve means and comprising a pressureresponsive element subjected to the pressure in said conduit, and a bleeder tube in communication with said conduit intermediate said pressure responsive element and said pump.

12. In a cooling system for internal combustion engines, in combination with the engine jacket, conduits for conducting the cooling medium to and from said jacket, a

circulating pump in one of said conduits, valve means in said last-named conduit, thermosensltive means connected to said valve means and controlled b the temperature of the amount of cooling medium flowing through said system, and a vent opening into said system intermediate said pump and said valve means.

14. In a cooling system for internal combustion engines, a pump for circulating a I cooling medium through said system, valve means on the suction side of said pump' for regulating the amount of cooling medlum flowing through said system, the'rmosensi-' tive means connected to said valve means and comprising a pressure responsiye element subjected to the pressure in said system on the suction side of said pump, and a vent opening into said system intermediate said valve means and said pump.-

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

JEAN V. GIESLER. 

